Ohio Heritage Camp gives students different perspective on past

"We want the students to come away with a better understanding of what life was like as an early settler."

Lakewood, OH - In the days of video

Old Stone House volunteers do laundry as the early settlers did by hand with a washboard.

An Old Stone House volunteer looks on as Sean Daso of Lakewood churns laundry in the tub.Kenny Simmons Hendershott

School teacher Lisa Alleman awaits her next class in the one-room schoolhouse in the Oldest Stone House. Kenny Simmons Hendershott

School teacher Lisa Alleman offers the wooden block or the unipod as a punishment to unruly pioneer students.Kenny Simmons Hendershott

games and idle time indoors, several children are putting down the game controller and signing off from social media. They are stepping back in time to the early 1800s to experience the life of early settlers by picking up saws to cut wood and learning how to do laundry with a washboard. Experiencing life as our forefathers did, these children enrolled in Ohio Heritage Camp at Oldest Stone House in Lakewood Park.

At Ohio Heritage Camp, they learn historic games, attend pioneer school and make crafts. The camp is held daily, intended for students entering into third, fourth and fifth grade, or fifth and sixth grade students who have previously been to the Ohio Heritage Camp. The camp is run in conjunction with Lakewood Historical Society and Stone House Society volunteers.

It's a trip back in time made possible through the Pioneer School, which is operated in a joint effort by the Lakewood Recreation Department and the Lakewood Historical Society. The school was developed into part of the Ohio Heritage program to give students an appreciation for what life was like for our forefathers.

During the Heritage Camp, students are immersed in the pioneer experience. From chores to classes in a one room schoolhouse. They even volunteer for punishment, which ranges from wearing the dunce cap or sitting on the unipod. Other unruly students would wear signs that read "Idle Boy" or "Bite Finger Baby."

Lisa Alleman is the school teacher, who conducts the class in period costume. "We give the experience of the one-room school house for lessons. We use the McGuffy Reader the students would've used then. They even use slate board and corded wool for erasers. We even had them use quill pens and the students made their own ink," said Alleman. "But you'd be amazed at how they volunteer to wear the dunce cap or hold the wooden block", added Alleman. They even have a portrait of President George Washington hanging in the classroom as it would have been back then.

Not only do the students gain an understanding of how much work pioneer children had to do, but they get the experience making period crafts and churning their own butter or making homemade ice cream. Beth Conway is the Heritage Camp Coordinator. She was a participant as well. "We want the students to come away with a better understanding of what life was like for the settlers, how much work it was; whether it was cutting wood or doing chores, such as laundry by hand." Conway went on to add, "At the pioneer school, they experience it all: from lessons taught in the one-room school house to crafts."

They also play games such as Game of Graces and hopscotch. "Game of Graces," explains Conway, "was a game to teach girls lessons in balance. But I think it was more of a game of hand eye coordination, as they would fling a wooden ring from a stick and then attempt to catch it. I don't think there was much balance involved," she laughed.

"I really like how you get the whole experience. It's really interactive," said Sean Daso, 6. "You're always doing something different each day and I love that."

Edie Barcelona, 7, added, "I really enjoy making the cool crafts and hand weaving, it's a lot of fun. You get to experience what life was like then."

The Pioneer School was a vision of Margaret Manor Butler, while she was on vacation in Massachusetts. It was on a tour of the Sylvanus Thayer house that she was inspired to develop the Pioneer School in 1966. The program continues to this day through the Ohio Heritage program.

In the beginning, the Pioneer School was a series of Saturday programs that was enjoyed by 42 students. Now 240 children are given the experience through a two week camp. There are morning and afternoon sessions. The camp runs for 2 two-week sessions during the summer.

There are two sessions of the Ohio Heritage Camp, which is held in the Lakewood Park, Woman's Pavilion 14532 Lake Avenue. To enroll in the Ohio Heritage Camp, contact Lakewood Recreation Department at 216-529-4081 or www.lakewoodrecreation.com.

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